LAPD Searching For Driver Who Fatally Struck 59-Year-Old Man In South LA
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles Police Department Wednesday released video of a fatal hit-and-run in South Los Angeles in hopes of identifying the driver.
The collision happened Sunday at about 8:25 a.m. at the intersection of Figueroa and 89th streets when the driver of a 2021 dark gray Kia K5 was racing at least two other vehicles. The vehicles were headed southbound on Figueroa when the driver of the Kia struck a 59-year-old man walking in an unmarked crosswalk.
"This street is very notorious for car crashes, people getting hit, hit-and-runs," Ernest Gillum, who lives in the area, said. "People just hit people and go on about their business like that man didn't have a family, like he wasn't related to nobody, like he was, like, nothing. That could have happened to me."
Gillum said people in the community are close and run into one another on a daily basis, leaving the entire neighborhood heartbroken about the way the man died.
The drivers all fled the scene without identifying themselves or rendering aid to the victim. The man, who was not immediately identified, was taken to Harbor–UCLA Medical Center where he died from his injuries.
"It makes me really mad, because it's like, 'Why are people not careful about this,'" Melissa Soriaa, who lives in the neighborhood, said. "Why can't there be any more effort to stop this ongoing issue."
Anyone with information was asked to call LAPD South Traffic Division Det. Keith Gonzales or Officer Carol Mitchell at 323-421-2500.
LAPD said a reward of up to $25,000 was available to community members who provide information that leads to the identification, apprehension and conviction or resolution through a civil compromise of the parties involved.